The Irish standard., 1887-07-16
LIFE OF CHAS. j. KICKHAM.
Continued From First Page

Continued From First Page.)
For three long months, in search OF work.
/ wandered far and near:
! went then to the poor-house,
For to see my mother dear;
The news | heard nigh broke my heart,
But still, in all my wee,
blest the friends who made their graves
In the Glen Of Aherloy.
B,reft of home. and kith and kin,
With plenty all around
starved within my cabin,
And slept upon the ground
B,1t cruel as my lot was.
I meier did hardship know
Till joined the English Army,
Far away from Aherlow.
Rouse up there" says the corporal
''You lazy Hirish honnd,
Why don't you hear yon sleepy dog,
The coll to arms sound.;'
Alas, had been dreaming
Of days, long, long ago:
woke before Sebastopol,
and not in AherIow.
Igroped to find my ,nuskctt-
How dark ] thought the night
. blessed God, it was not dark
It was the broad daylight
And when found that was blind,
hly tears began to flow;
/ longed for even pauper's grave
In the Glen of Aherlow
O blessed Virgin Mary,
Mine is 1nournful tale;
4 poor blind prisoner here am.
In Dnhlin's drcary jail
Struck blind within the trenches
Where never feared the Zoe;
And now ( II never see again
Ny own sweet Aherlow.
OF course the writer's idea was to
give vivid picture Of England S graft
tude for Erlsh valor when fighting her
battles against the manhood
Of Russia OF India. Alas! hunger and
pennry are the best recruiting officers,
and "Royal Irishmen" are proving flor
the enemy to this hour the ''pathos of
a pikehead and the logic OF blow
LII "Saliy Cavanagh" we have a gem
Of the clearest water, and had Kickham
never penned another line Of poetry,
his memory as sweet singer would not
die.
Alone, all alone, by the wind-swept strand,
Ny weary spirit sighs:
OH my love Oh! my love, shall see You more :
OH my land shall you ever uprise?
And day by day ever. ever pray,
AS YEARLY the years glide Oh,
To see your flag unroled and my true love to en-
fold
In that valley nerr Slievenamon.
Is there not music in line and heart in
every stave of jt?-the wailing of q
strong heart for his country and his
love. Tile vigorous word painting in
. Rory of the Hill" needs scant criti-
cism to stamp it as one of the finest
''seditious" ballads in the language.
Davis -"sack Of Baltimore evin ces
both power and passion, and his ''Fon-
tenoy'' as a battle piece is not inferior
to Macaulay's best work in the same
line! Savage in "Shane's Head" is
fierce and denunciatory over the treach-
cry of the Scots, and curses, AS Kehama
cursed. the sept Of Mcdonald root and
branch; yet withal, for its mastery
power OF descriptive narration, the
poem of the rebel Rory has never been
The midnight moon is
dinging its radiance over the heather
clad slopes Of the Fenian-haunted
mountain of fair women," the bold
Croppy startles the tinorous hare in it's
form" as be seeks the rendezvous OF
his brother conspirators. Coolly and
they discuss the des-
perate chances Of an armed struggle,
and one war-worn exile brings them
happy tidings Of succor from be-
yond the sea. "By my soul I never
doubted them,' cried Rory, and he
FASTENED homeward to fling the toothed
rake scornfully aside and mount in its
stead the cleaning steel.
ooh. for hundred thousand such
weapons and such men' exclaimed the
poet, carried along by the power of his
own verses; and who amongst us: even
now, but will re-echo his prayer?
The t'Peasant Girl Of the Amer" met
with general favor on its appearance,
such capable litterateurs as Col.
Michael Dohney growing warm in it's
praise; and few will be found to deny
t the merit of being the finest rural